Not enough proof, say big three

By Caroline Overington, Herald Correspondent in New YorkFebruary 7 2003

France, Russia and China have rejected a strong argument by the United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, to take urgent action against Iraq, saying the case for war was not strengthened by his address to United Nations Security Council.

The setback for Washington came as tensions rose on another possible war front, with North Korea warning that it has the right to make a pre-emptive strike against the US.

"The United States says that after Iraq, we are next, but we have our own counter-measures," a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Pyongyang told Britain's Guardian newspaper. "Pre-emptive attacks are not the exclusive right of the US."

At the UN, Mr Powell used dramatic, secretly taped conversations, satellite photos and other recently declassified material to argue that Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction, and was hiding evidence of them from UN inspectors.

The foreign ministers of France, Russia and China - each of which has a veto in the Security Council - watched as Mr Powell used two large video screens, a stereo system and 13 pages of text to make his case. ");document.write("

advertisement

");
}
}
// -->

Later, none was prepared to rule out military action in the future but all three agreed that a war against Iraq would be considered only after the inspectors had been given more tools, and more time, to do their work.

France summed up the anti-war sentiment, saying: "Why go to war if there still exists some unused space in resolution 1441?" The French Foreign Minister, Dominique de Villepin, said the time was not right to discuss a new resolution opening the way for war, insisting that inspections must continue.

The Russian Foreign Minister, Serge Ivanov, said Mr Powell's report "convincingly indicates the fact that the activities of the international inspectors in Iraq must be continued".

China's Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, said inspections should continue, but urged Iraq to adopt a "more proactive approach, and co-operate".

Britain was the only permanent member of the Security Council to strongly back the US, with the Foreign Minister, Jack Straw, saying Mr Powell's evidence "has confirmed our worst fears: that Iraq has no intention of relinquishing its weapons of mass destruction".

The US and Britain are pushing for military action in "weeks, not months" if Iraq does not change its attitude to inspections.

But the split between permanent members of the Security Council means that the war debate will continue at least until February 14, when the chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, is due to report again on Iraq's compliance.

The US remains confident that the UN will eventually find Iraq in breach of resolution 1441, and sanction a military strike. If the process drags on, the US President, George Bush, has pledged to lead a "coalition of the willing" to disarm Saddam.

Mr Powell argued that he had "irrefutable and undeniable evidence" that Iraq was in breach of resolution 1441.

He used electronic tools and eyewitness accounts from defectors to show how Iraq had hidden material from weapons inspectors; threatened scientists if they testified against Saddam; provided support to terrorists connected with al-Qaeda; moved weapons around the country to avoid detection; and was still trying to make weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Powell said the Security Council would place itself "in danger of irrelevancy" if it allowed Iraq to continue to defy the international community.

Iraq's ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Aldouri, described the presentation as a "typical American show, complete with stunts and special effects".

"Iraq is totally free of weapons of mass destruction," he said. "The clear goal behind the presentation today is to sell the idea of war and aggression against my country."

In Canberra, both sides of politics agreed that Saddam now faces a one-week diplomatic deadline before the world moves to the final phase of a war footing.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Opposition Leader, Simon Crean, said Mr Powell's presentation had shown new and compelling evidence of Iraq's defiance of its disarmament obligations.

Both suggested that the diplomatic moves for peace could soon be exhausted if there were not a significant change in Iraq's attitude before Dr Blix reports to the Security Council next Friday.

"What the presentation revealed was a deliberate, systematic campaign of deceit, distortion and deception on the part of Iraq," Mr Howard said.

Mr Crean described the presentation as "significant", but said it did not justify US unilateral action without a UN mandate.